SO confused about EMH! Is it my best friend or worst enemy?!

[wrldpossibility]

Hi,

I know people post EMH questions all too often, but I have to post my own! We're going next Dec. 10-20 (supposedly a less crowded time), and I can't figure out whether to embrace EMH or shun it! It seems to depend on the time of year. During this time, with shorter park times in general, should we plan our schedule around going to them or not? I currently have a (very) tenative plan going to EMH in the morning, then park hopping to another park in the afternoon. My family is an early-rising one, so I like the idea of the morning EMH. I doubt we'll take advantage of the evening one, since our kids will go to bed, unless some of the adults in our group go back out.

So if we planned on morning EMH, then got out of that park to either nap at POR or go to another park by noon, is that a good plan, or should we avoid the EMH park altogether?! I hate to not take advantage of that perk...sounds fun!

 

[AdventurerKat]

Good plan to use the EMH in the morning. Most people don't like to get up at the crack of dawn on vacation. There have been times that I have gone for EMH at MK and done more in those first two or three hours than I can manage to do other days staying at the park all day. EMH at night, everyone is up and ready to go so don't do that, its a madhouse.

I would go with doing EMH at one park and then heading to a different park in the afternoon (one that will not have EMH at night) after naps and such. The EMH park is almost always the most crowded no matter what time of day it is.

 

[pepe of ohio]

I personally never believe what other people say, I would rather experience it for myself than make my own judgement. It's my life and my vacation so I tend to want to see for myself whats the best for my family. I read these boards, laugh, and make my own assessment around what I read but I'll do the experience and relate my comments as they pertained to my family. I take these boards as observations only, not must do things and plan my iternery around how we travel and like to see things. Some posts are adamant about their beliefs on how to do WDW, just take them with a grain of salt, go to WDW and do as much as you want and see what interests you then come home and list the things that really interested your family and next trip you'll have the better handle on your vacation then others.

 

[rayjess]

Hello from Ohio too. I have an EMH question. If the schedule says the park hours are until 9:00pm, does that mean the EMH visitors get to stay the extra hours after 9:00pm? Probably sounds like a stupid question but I have no clue.

Thanks

 

[kmadams]

My son and I did the extra hour in the morning last March at MK and MGM. For us it worked really well, we rode Rock and Roller Coaster and TOT 2 times each in the morning, then explored the rest of the park. At MK we hit Buzz Light Year and Space Mountain, then made the dash over to Splash and Big Thunder. We took an afternoon break and went back to the same parks, but just for the entertainment, as the parks were now crowded.

We also did the evening hours for Magic Kingdom. The park's stated closing time was 10:00 so the extra hours ran from 10:00-1:00 am. We rode Big Thunder (didn't do Splash) several times, then rode Space Mountain, which was a walk on. We rode Buzz Light year so many times in a row that I lost count!

Disclaimer - your mileage may vary! The night we went to MK it was raining so that might have brought the crowds down. Also, we were at the parks for the opening, if you don't get there right when it opens, I wouldn't bother.

And now having said all that, we are going again this March and we are considering skipping the morning EMH. There is one evening at MK that I think we'll have a hard time passing up, my son is a night owl and loved it there in the evening, the later, the better!

 

[islandbeachnut]

Hello from Ohio too. I have an EMH question. If the schedule says the park hours are until 9:00pm, does that mean the EMH visitors get to stay the extra hours after 9:00pm? Probably sounds like a stupid question but I have no clue.

Thanks

Yes, the park closes to regular visitors at 9, and then the resort guests (with wristband) get to enjoy EMH after that. It's not a stupid question if you don't know the answer

 

[mtdevine615]

I really wasn't sure about doing EMH at MK on Jan. 22nd but we hung around after the fireworks to see what the crowds were going to do and I'm glad we did. We had a great time, walk ons for everything except IASW, had to wait 10mins. Even went to Stitch with the kids and we were the only ones there nothing like having chili dog breath all to your self.

 

[DrTomorrow]

Greetings, wrldpossibility!

Since you took the time to ask the questions, I'll give you my opinions (and pepee of ohio's comments notwithstanding, they are based on emperical experience based on many trips )

EMH-AM works best if you can be there at the early opening time, spend roughly 3 hours at the park then hop elsewhere (or take a PM break, depending on the temperature). This allows you to take advantage of some prime riding time - you can really enjoy a lot of the 'bigger' rides in those 3 hours. If you are going to arrive later - particularly noon or after - then avoid the EMH-AM park like the bird flu; the EMH-AM draws loads of folks later in the AM.

EMH-PM is less of a 'great' thing. While they do give EMH-PM folks the wristbands, it's not like they use cattle prods to clear the parks of non-EMH-PM folks - they want them to spend & eat - so it doesn't often seem less crowded, particularly in shops, restaurants and for Spectro/Wishes. If you can really stay the entire 3 hours, though, the last two can be really good, paticularly on longer days (when families with little ones just can't make it from rope-drop to 10PM).

Hope this helps - be well!

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

The early morning EE always worked great for us. We always get alot accomplished. We have never tried a night one since my children are still young.

 

[spiceycat]

I like both!!!

I have done both on the same day - of course the next day - no parks.....

do whatever works for you!

if you find that you only like the morning then do the morning....

or if you find that one night you would like to do the evening hours - do it...

now this is only possiblity if you have a park hopper. So you can go to another park in the morning/late afternoon.

if you don't have a park hopper - then stick with the evening - you get more for your dine in the evening.

Now it is true that WDW does not throw non-WDW guests out. But they can't do the rides or the inside shows....

so most of the time they get bore and do leave....

especially the ones that try and sneak in - only to be caught and told "no - you can't ride' 'this time is just for WDW resort guests'

everytime this happens.....

 

[teacher31]

We always do the EMH for every park except MGM. Not enough open for those who don't ride the TT, or RR. We often go to the both morning and night. We do take naps in the afternoon, though, to get us through.

 

[KathylovesPooh]

Hi,

I It seems to depend on the time of year. During this time, with shorter park times in general, should we plan our schedule around going to them or not?

So if we planned on morning EMH, then got out of that park to either nap at POR or go to another park by noon, is that a good plan, or should we avoid the EMH park altogether?! I hate to not take advantage of that perk...sounds fun!

Yes, from personal experience and from everything I've read - it does depend on how crowded it will be. In a slow time, I say embrace the EMH. And most definitely the morning ones. Even if it means getting a wake up call and getting up earlier than you are use to - get to the park 5 minutes before the EMH time. This will be your best chance to get the most done (especially at MK). I have not seen the park become any more crowded as the day progressed, but to be safe I would probably pick a different park to go to after your break.

We also attended EMH PM at MK. Prior to regular park closing as well as the fireworks, it was very crowded. Once the fireworks ended, much of the crowd cleared and it was great for those three hours.

 

[JoAnnPan]

Is EMH for all the disney hotels? I read somewhere that it was just for the dolphin/swan guests; has that changed? I hope so as I will be staying at the Beach Club Resort in April

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

Is EMH for all the disney hotels? I read somewhere that it was just for the dolphin/swan guests; has that changed? I hope so as I will be staying at the Beach Club Resort in April

EMH has always been for all Disney resorts. This includes the Swan and Dolphin and I think the DTD Hilton, although these three are not Disney owned resorts.
I suggest you go over to allearsnet.com for loads of WDW information.

 

[Lesley]

We were also at the MK EMH on Jan. 22nd and it was a nice evening. We didn't stay the whole time because the kids got tired (well, we did too....after all we got up at about 4am to drive to WDW!). My dh and ds had a great time at the evening EMH at MGM....but EMH at Epcot on Friday was a complete waste of time. We got to ride Living with the Land and my dh and our oldest and yougest got to see Turtle Talk (after we all waited for about half an hour) while I took our middle child to first aid (just as we got into the theater she somehow got a DVC button stuck to her knee...all turned out fine in the end). Soarin' had an hour long wait, even after 10pm, with no fastpass. Considering that the previous night we waited about half an hour in the fastpass line for it we weren't willing to wait again.

On the other hand morning EHM were great at Epcot (very little wait for Soarin') and the MK.....but there wasn't much to do at MGM. We did ride RnR twice and could have done it more, but we weren't interested in ToT or Star Tours that morning and all we did was RnR and Muppets.

I think the key is to get the list of open attractions and go if you want to do those....but don't count on doing Soarin' at night! EMH can be a great thing, but don't just automatically do it or not do it....figure out what will work for you.

 

[DVCkidsMOM]

What you are planning: EMHs in morning only then hop to other park is exactly what we have done each visit (usually non-holiday Dec or Jan, April once) during the last 5 years. Our only exception was this January's trip (2 weeks ago), where we shunned all EMH park days. We did more in previous years going to the EMH am park for part of the morning only than we did this year all day at a non-EMH park. We were at a non-EMH park each morning of our recent trip before openning and rope drop but still did not see as much as previous visits during which we did the a.m. EMH. So when we go again (planning on Dec '06 also) we will go back to my original (and your) a.m. only EMH plan then hop to another park mid-late morning. The only park we don't hop out of is AK - we'll stay all day there. Enjoy your trip